02-25-2014, 01:22 PM
OK, I have figured out what is happening, and since I gather one of the ideas behind Linux Lite is to attract Windows users, I'll set it out here because it might help people who have strong Windows ways (like me).
I was a bit puzzled how I could create archives without a problem and have this baffling set of error messages in the same day while doing what appeared to be a repetitive task. It seems to be a combination of Windows thinking and two different archiving tools that look very similar - I had installed an alternative when looking for some added functionality.
I usually create an empty archive file and then select files to put into it, and was not having trouble doing this in LL. But when I was told to 'read the manual' I noticed that the process recommended there is to create the archive by selecting the files you want in it - not a difference that I had seen as significant ever before.
I see now that what happened to me is that I was using File Roller ('Archive Manager') at first, and having no problem whatsoever creating an empty archive, then selecting files to put into it. What threw me is that I then started using xarchiver (Unzip/Compress files) which has the same icon and nearly the same interface, and this program does not appear to allow the creation of an empty archive. If I follow the same procedure, everything looks the same, but these error messages occur because the archive file is not created because it is expecting to have an included file first.
I was a bit puzzled how I could create archives without a problem and have this baffling set of error messages in the same day while doing what appeared to be a repetitive task. It seems to be a combination of Windows thinking and two different archiving tools that look very similar - I had installed an alternative when looking for some added functionality.
I usually create an empty archive file and then select files to put into it, and was not having trouble doing this in LL. But when I was told to 'read the manual' I noticed that the process recommended there is to create the archive by selecting the files you want in it - not a difference that I had seen as significant ever before.
I see now that what happened to me is that I was using File Roller ('Archive Manager') at first, and having no problem whatsoever creating an empty archive, then selecting files to put into it. What threw me is that I then started using xarchiver (Unzip/Compress files) which has the same icon and nearly the same interface, and this program does not appear to allow the creation of an empty archive. If I follow the same procedure, everything looks the same, but these error messages occur because the archive file is not created because it is expecting to have an included file first.